February 2009 Archives

The Simpsons have changed their opening title sequence for the first time since 1989. And it was well overdue. I really like it.

Although there are a couple of elements that I find a little hard to believe about this story, the original link has a graph. So it must be true.

It is hardly the boy racer's vehicle of choice. About 14 years old and with 130,000 miles on the clock, the Honda Civic driven by Dale Lyle was barely capable of reaching the speed limit. So when he received a ticket for apparently driving at almost 100mph on the motorway, he told magistrates the mobile speed camera must have got it wrong. Prove it, they said. He did... but it wasn't easy.

Mr Lyle, 21, who has a clean driving licence, had already sold the car to a friend for £600. He had to take out a bank overdraft to buy it back. Then he had to pay an independent driving expert £600 to test the 1.3litre Civic's top speed at a circuit in Bedfordshire.

The result was as expected. Even when driven flat-out, the Honda could still only do a top speed of 85.4mph in fourth gear and 81.3mph in fifth. Next, Mr Lyle obtained the mobile speed-camera footage of his alleged offence - travelling at 98mph on a 70mph three-lane carriageway of the A38, near Plymouth, on December 13, 2007. The three-minute film shows three other cars in the frame at the same time, he said, which he believes means his vehicle was mistaken for another.

Mr Lyle could have faced a maximum £1,000 fine and a six-month ban for the speeding charge. He said: 'The video evidence the CPS sent me was just appalling. They are just picking on innocent motorists. It makes you wonder how many people say, "Fine, give me the points", when they are not guilty.

Eventually, his hard work paid off, and the Crown Prosecution Service informed him the case had been dropped. 'I'm really glad I fought the system and won,' he said. 'It's shocking how hard it has been for me to prove my innocence.'

Mr Lyle, a finance worker, from Staple Hill, Bristol, recalled his feelings when first served with the prosecution. 'I was in total disbelief when I opened the letter,' he said. 'I've never driven my car over the speed limit, let alone at 98mph. It's such a small car I wouldn't feel safe. I told the magistrates that the car was ancient and that there was no way it will do that speed.' He intends to return to court to seek compensation for the £1,200 he spent proving his innocence.

The CPS said: 'We came to the conclusion that there was no longer sufficient evidence to provide a prospect of a conviction. Recompense is a matter between the defendant and the court.'

Via: Nick Abbot and The Daily Mail - I never thought I would be using that as a source... but it was the best link that came up when the story was given a thorough Googling.

From BBC News:

It seems even one of history's most notorious womanisers had a romantic side - at least in the beginning. Concealed in the Vatican for almost five centuries, a love letter from King Henry VIII to his second wife Anne Boleyn is to go on display at the British Library in London.

Probably written in January 1528, it shows a softer side to the infamously bloodthirsty royal as he pursues her. He assures Anne that "henceforth my heart will be dedicated to you alone," and apologises profusely for ever suggesting she could be a mere mistress.

Unfortunately, that devotion did not last and as school children learn, things ended badly for Anne. Henry eventually had her beheaded at the Tower of London in 1536 and subsequently married another four women.

The letter is part of a major exhibition on Henry VIII opening at the British Library in April. Never displayed publicly before, it was almost certainly stolen from Anne.

It speaks of the king's "unchangeable intention" to marry her and marks a turning point in their relationship. Before then, Anne had held out - aware of Henry's womanising reputation - and had refused any pre-marital sexual relations. The letter - originally written in French - appears to show that she has finally made a "too humble submission" to his advances.

It reads: "The demonstrations of your affection are such, and the beautiful words of your letter are so cordially phrased, that they really oblige me to honour, love, and serve you for ever... For my part, I will out-do you, if this be possible, rather than reciprocate, in loyalty of heart and my desire to please you. Beseeching you also that if I have in any way offended you, you will give me the same absolution for which you ask, assuring you that henceforth my heart will be dedicated to you alone, and wishing greatly that my body was so too."

The letter is signed like a love-sick schoolboy, "H seeks A.B, No Other Rex," alongside his beloved's initials in a heart.

Henry battled with the Vatican throughout his life, ultimately leading to him separating the Anglican church from Rome and creating the Church of England. The exhibition - which also includes portraits, tapestries and armour, as well as correspondence, official documents, maps and books - gives an insight into what drove him.

It is curated by historian and broadcaster Dr David Starkey, who said: "Henry is not only England's best-known king - with his wives, his girth and his bloodthirstiness - he is also our most important single ruler. When he came to the throne, Henry was the pious prince who ruled an England at the heart of Catholic Europe. When he died, he was the great schismatic, who had created a national church and an insular, xenophobic politics that shaped the development of England for the next 500 years."

Henry VIII: Man and Monarch is open from 23 April to 6 September.

idiomag is a constantly changing music magazine catered to your individual needs. How exciting!

Unfortunately, you do need to give it some prodding in order for it to find out your requirements and interests, but you can do this fairly easily. Especially if you use Last.fm to log your listening. (My Last.fm page)

I've written many times about how useful Last.fm is for finding out about new music, but it's the third party uses for the information that really make the plug in useful. In this case, idiomag take your Last.fm profile and find articles about the artists you listen to. My most current mini-magazine is shown below.

Helpful, huh?

Now, as you may or may not know, I adore Formula One. I visited the British Grand Prix at Silverstone in 2004 and thoroughly enjoyed myself.

Silverstone has hosted the race regularly since the start of the F1 championship in 1950 and every year since 1987; it alternated with Brands Hatch between 1964 and 1986, and with Aintree between 1955 and 1962.

However, it was announced on 4th July 2008 that Donington Park will be the host to the British Grand Prix for 10 years from 2010.

At first glance, given the geography of our country, I should be delighted by this as it makes it more accessible for me. But the sheer amount of history that has taken place at Silverstone, its wonderful layout and passion that it fills people with will be missed.

Work has begun to alter Donington; £100 million worth of revamp is taking place:

• The pit lane will be moved from its current location to what is presently the Starkey's Straight, with a brand new paddock constructed on the inside of the track at this point and Coppice corner being reprofiled to accommodate the new pit entry.


• The realignment of the straight means that the current Esses will be replaced by a slight left-hand kink, with the Melbourne Hairpin instead becoming the circuit's first corner.


• The track will also be extended, with a new infield loop constructed. Rather than taking the current left-hand hairpin at the end of the Melbourne Loop, the revised circuit will continue straight on into a sweeping downhill left-hand bend and then a new hairpin, before climbing back towards the current pits straight.

Yesterday, the BBC released a simulation of the new circuit created on the racing game, rFactor. It looks like an old-style 'proper' circuit - not a Mickey Mouse one like Singapore, or Bahrain. One that fits into the traditional European view of what a racing track should look like.

You can view the BBC video here.

Time will tell if the alterations take away the character of Doninigton, or whether moving the British Grand Prix can save the famous name in the long run. But Britain, along with Monaco, Italy and France deserve a Formula One race to preserve the heritage of the World Championship, and it doesn't matter whether it is held at a slightly run down, weather worn place or a brand spanking new establishment. It matters that it can produce some good racing. Silverstone has delivered that in spades over the years; can the new Donington do the same?

I came across this site today, showing what I assume to be a promotional video for a snowmobile type machine from 1926. Just what we need in Leeds right now!

The design is a work of pure genius.

Enjoy!

Original link: www.liveleak.com/view?i=568_1233111054

I've edited the Slide widget at the top of the homepage today to remove images that were not taken or edited by me. Previously, I used this widget to highlight images from various posts around the site - mainly because I hadn't taken enough images to fill it up!

But as the site has grown and I've taken more pictures, I thought it better to replace the older images with ones from my various trips. Also, many of them were from a good long while ago!

All of them have been captioned with the location and date taken, just hover over an image to pause the movement and discover where they are.

It snowed over night. I couldn't get in to work. Good times.

Click the photos for an embiggenated image, which will open in a new window. All photos taken with a Nokia N95 8GB phone!